Distance: 56.3 miles

Time: 5:05

Elevation: 2154 feet

My night at Mount View caravan park had been a chilly one, giving me an excellent opportunity to use some of the excess clothes that had been weighing me down on the hills. Today was to finish with a pit stop at home and I had been hoping to ditch some of the excess kit, but I suppose I’d have to hold onto it now, if I didn’t want some sleepless nights from here on in.

I was actually surprised that my sleep hadn’t been more interrupted than it was, what with the background noise of the M74 being drowned out by the the foreground noise of the West Coast Main Line. I couldn’t really complain, for a 4th night running my campsite fee had been £10, after loftier prices of around £15 further south.

After leaving the campsite at just before 11, I popped into the shop in Abington, where I picked up some supplies, and chatted to a couple out on a 30 mile ride before work.

Still at around 250 metres elevation, it was another stunning day, but with an icy breeze coming from the north. I followed the road out of the village on the A702, starting along a lovely valley before taking the A73 towards Thankerton.

Climbing up passed Libberton primary school as the kids shot some hoops in the playground, I looked back to see an array of bright green fields falling away before me.

Reaching Carnwath, a staging post on the old Pedal for Scotland Sportive ride I first rode over a decade before, I made for the Apple Pie Bakery, lining my bike up alongside countless others. This was a popular place with the cycling fraternity. Once inside, I selected the no-doubt-infamous Carnwath delicacy, Chicken Curry, haggis and cheese pie.

Heading north towards Auchengray, the road started to rise up, reaching 290 metres before starting to fall down the other side. I took a right towards Livingston and caught my first glimpse of the Queensferry Crossing, acting like a beacon to draw me home.

Hitting the cycle paths through Livingston and the Almondell & Calderwood Country Park, I then continued East towards Newbridge before jumping on an old railway line to Kirkliston and finally reaching the Forth Road Bridge after 48 miles. I was too quick for my Dad who’d come along to see me cross the bridge, so I waited the few minutes until he arrived.

It was 8 miles to home, where I could wash some clothes, charge some batteries and work on the bike. But I was more excited about the Lamb Biryani I was having for tea.

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